Hi, I'm Vanessa from gonaturalenglish.com How have you been I hope you have been doing well and practicing your English Did you notice that I just used have been in my question to you? Hmm. When do we use have been and this has been the same thing? The answer is yes - and has been are both part of the present Perfect tense to better understand this let's look at the conjugation of the verb to be in the present Perfect tense. So let's see here. We have I have been You have been he she it has been we have been and They have been do you notice anything different about this tense? I hope the answer is yes, as you can see the present perfect is formed by having a subject Then adding have or has and then adding the past Participle of the verb it is never correct to say I've been you've been leaving Haven and so on you always need to have have or has in between Sometimes you will hear some native speakers say I've been doing this a lot lately Keep in mind it is not correct You will hear it sometimes but we are teaching you the correct way to say it in this video Let me try to help you more by providing a couple of examples in the first example I have here I wrote Gabi has been practicing her Portuguese with her friends Okay, so it says Gabi has been not Gabi have been do you understand? Why? Well, we just looked at the conjugation of the verb to be in the present perfect Right, and we see that Gabi or she right can only take has Because we see it here. Those are the rules. We just have to remember that if we're talking about he she or it we always have to use has and for I and We and they we use have so Gabby has been practicing her Portuguese with her friends because she actually lived in Brazil Did you know that now she lives in the US but she still practices her Portuguese and she has been Practicing it a lot lately. She Continues to practice it Gabby Wants to make sure that she practices it on a weekly basis or daily basis actually Because she wants to make sure that she doesn't lose her Fluency and I think that she has been doing a great job She has been practicing a lot and it shows now, let's look at my second example I have been traveling a lot lately This is actually true okay, I'm giving you real examples here and I love my job because it allows me to work from anywhere That I want so I take full advantage of that and I travel a lot So I have been traveling a lot lately. I am a frequent flyer. I Have always loved to travel and I have been Discovering new places since I was young and I don't plan on stopping anytime Soon, so if you have any recommendations for where I should go Tell me in the comments and actually now that we're talking about traveling a little bit I want to tell you that this is very common to use have been when you ask a question related to travel for example I asked a lot of people. Have you been to Mexico before because I am Mexican-american I am also from Los Angeles. So I say have you been to Los Angeles? the sunniest city in the United States before so remember when you ask a question you want to know where somebody has been you can say have you been to B4 so what have you been doing lately? Have you been to the United States? Recently, if you have let us know in the comments below and let us know what you think So let's take a look at the structure one more time. Gabi is a subject we use has because Gabi when we talk about her it's in the third person and bin is the past participle of the verb to be I hope that's clear and The same goes for the second example. I am the subject have is correct now right because I am talking about myself first person and bin is the past participle of the verb to be and a quick note the pronunciation of B EE n is been Very often we hear students say bean This is not correct. So practice it say bin I have been Very tired lately So now that you understand the structure and the difference between have and has your next question might be When do I use this? Don't worry? I'm going to tell you when right now the present perfect is used to describe an action that happened in the past that Continues in the present or that is still true to this day For example, I have been teaching English for over five years I Have not quit. I have not stopped teaching English. I Continue to do that and I love it. So I have to use the present perfect For this situation. I have been teaching English for over five years keep in mind that we can say I've Instead of I have Gabby and I will go more into detail in a few minutes with that but very quickly I just want to let you know that I've is called a Contraction it is when two words Right are put together with an apostrophe So I have becomes I've and I think you should get used to using more Contractions when you speak because they are much more common in Communication native speakers love to use contractions So you'll hear them say I've been instead of I have been much more so now we have a skip for you because we want to not just Explain all this grammar to you and give you some examples We want to show you a situation where you can actually you know Imagine how it can be used in real life. So first we will pronounce Everything very slowly and then we will speak the natural way. Are you ready? Hey Vanessa, hi Gabby, long time no, see I know Have you been hiding under a rock? It has been impossible to find you I know I'm so sorry. I have been so busy with work lately That's okay. I completely understand Hey last time we talked you told me that your mom wasn't feeling well, how has she been? Oh I'm so happy that you remembered that. She says hi, by the way She has been feeling much better lately. I can't believe it. She was sick for so long No, I'm glad she's feeling better. I have been thinking about both of you a lot Oh, let's catch up soon and have dinner at Islands I would love to I have never been to islands and I have been wanting to go for Long time. I think I have been wanting to go since it opened. So thanks for the invite I will contact you soon. I just need things to settle down at work Perfect. That sounds great. It was really great seeing you. You too Hey Minnis a long time no see have you been hiding under a rock? It's been impossible to find you. I know I'm so sorry. I've been so busy with work lately. Please forgive Oh, no, I totally understand. Hey the last time we talked you mentioned that your mom wasn't feeling well. How's she been? Oh, she's been doing really well. Thanks for asking. She actually mentioned you earlier and she says hi Oh, I'm glad to hear she's doing better. I've been thinking a lot about the both of you. Let's catch up soon Let's have dinner at Island Definitely. I've never been there and I've been wanting to go for so long. So thanks for the invite. I will definitely contact you I just need things to settle down at work. Perfect. That sounds great Well, it was really great seeing you you too, as you may have noticed. There was a question Asking about Vanessa's mom I asked how has she been or in faster more natural English? How's she been so we want to take a moment to show you how to ask questions Using the present perfect more naturally linking words together because the sound or the Pronunciation completely changes when you start talking more like a native speaker So for example when I asked this question very clearly you hear how has she been? But when I linked the sounds together you hear how has she been or has she been? Let's take a look at some other Subjects you he or they they also change So how about if we're asking about he if I want to know for example about your dad? How would you ask that question? We would say the natural way. How's he been? How's he been? How's he been? How's he been? That's fast, right? So it's much different than how has he been? I don't think many native English speakers would ask the question like that No, and it's also good not only to train your ears for this kind of linking Pronunciation but also train your speaking. So try repeating after me. How's e been? How's he been? How about if I'm asking about both of your parents though? That one is fun. Yeah, how have they been how have they been how have they been? How I like that? Okay, and last what if I just want to ask about you? Have you been how have you been or even how yeah, yes. Have you been how have you been? So this is great. I love these little tricks these little secrets to speaking more like a native speaker And we hope you do too. So now I'm gonna handle lesson back to Vanessa and I'll see you later now that you know, the difference between have been and has been let's move on and talk about Had been had you been feeling confused about this topic before I started explaining it to you Did you notice that I just used had been in my question to you had been is? Actually part of the past perfect tense Let's take a look at the conjugation of the verb to be in the past perfect tense So here we see I had been You had been He she it had been we had been and They had been So what's different about this tense? Well, it's easy I think it's easy because look you see had is Used for everybody whether you're talking about me They we you're always going to use had but let me be more specific about the structure The past perfect is formed by having a subject plus had Plus the past participle of the verb Simple right now. Let me give you a couple of examples the first example says Gaby had been a poor Portuguese speaker before she moved to Brazil Before she moved to Brazil Gaby had very little knowledge of Portuguese She could barely understand the language and she had trouble communicating But that all completely changed when she moved to Brazil Now she is completely fluent in the language and we are also proud of her for that go, Gaby But do you understand why I'm using had been to describe her situation? Let me explain the past perfect tense is used When we talk about a situation That is no longer happening in the present because something else is happening In the present the past perfect tense is used when something happened in the past But then something new happened in the past to change it So once again with the example that I first gave you think about it Gaby used to be a beginner Portuguese speaker she is no longer a beginner student Now she is fluent. She is advanced in the language. So Something changed and something new happened What happened? That was new? Well, she moved to Brazil and she became an advanced Portuguese speaker now, let's look at this second example, I Had been traveling a lot with my brother before he got married again, true story I Had been traveling all over the world with my brother It was so fun, but then he fell in love and he got married So I no longer travel with him I travel alone or with my friends and family But he doesn't have time to travel anymore because he's a newlywed. Do you know what that is? That means he was recently married. So he has no time for me anymore. So You understand? What changed? Well, I had been traveling with my brother, right? I don't do that anymore the thing that's different is that now he's married and Now I am traveling by myself. I hope that that's clear for you if you're still confused Don't worry. Let's keep practicing we're going to show you another skit where first we speak slowly and Then we speak naturally. Are you ready? Hey Vanessa, I had just been thinking about you when you called Hey, Gabi, I love your jacket. Where did you buy it? Oh This old thing. I bought it at a boutique in downtown Los Angeles But I had been thinking about getting rid of it. In fact, you can have it if you want Wow Thank you. Of course thank you for taking it off my hands I am glad I mentioned it. Thank you. Yeah, of course Hey, I'm having a snack right now. Have you tried these chips? Oh, I love those they are my favorite You know, I had been thinking about buying potato chips But then I saw these broccoli chips, and I wanted to try them. They're so good They are my favorite. I know they are delicious Hey Vanessa, I just been thinking about you when you call them. Hey girl. I love your jacket. Where'd you get it? Oh this old thing. I got it at a boutique in downtown LA. But I've been thinking about throwing it out Do you want it you can have it? Well, I'm glad I mentioned it Thanks. Yeah, of course Hey, I'm having a snack right now. Have you ever tried these broccoli chips? Yes. They're my fave Yeah, so at the store, I'd been thinking about buying potato chips, but then I saw these broccoli ships And I thought I have to try them. They're so good. They're my fave. I know they're delish Now it's time for a quiz so Gabi and I are going to Read four sentences to you and you are going to decide whether they are right or wrong If they are wrong, then you must think about the correct answer. Are you ready? Number one? I have been teaching English for several years. Is that correct? Think about it The answer is no I has been is Incorrect. I need to say I have been teaching English for several years or we can contract I an have To say I've been teaching English for several years That is the correct way to talk about your experience Number two, you have been watching this video for over five minutes Is this correct or incorrect? And you said correct you are right It is correct to say you have been there isn't another way and I hope that this is true that you have been watching this video for over five minutes And that makes really happy keep watching number three We have been sleeping before we woke up to get ready for work. Is this correct? The answer is no, this is not correct because we have one option in the past before another action in the past that Changed so the that changed the situation So the correct way to express this is we had been Sleeping before we woke up to get ready for work What have you been doing before you started to watch this video? you can say I had been sleeping before I Started watching this video many native speakers will also use the simple past tense I was sleeping before I started watching this video and that's okay, too But what we're teaching you is the most correct grammar number four He had been unemployed before he got hired at his new job Correct or incorrect If you think it's correct then you are correct So remember the past perfect is used when we talk about something that happened in the past That is no longer happening in the future that person he can be Carlos has been unemployed Before he got hired at his new job Carlos is no longer unemployed. He has a new job. So how did you do? Let us know how you did in the comments below and also let us know if you have any more questions about this subject We hope that you enjoyed this video and also let us know what you've been doing lately now Remember, it's important to understand the grammar, but it's also important to practice it That's why we want you to leave comments below so you can practice it and tell us how you've been doing We don't just want you to understand by watching our video. Just writing it down memorizing This doesn't mean that you'll know how to use the past perfect or the present perfect in a natural conversation So, how about you start by leaving a comment below using one of these tenses telling us how have you been? What have you been up to lately? 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